CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ will no longer edit taped interviews after Kristi Noem backlash

by

CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation‘ has decided to stop editing pre-recorded interviews, following a complaint from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who expressed concern over the editing of her statements during her previous appearance on the Washington-based show.

On Friday, the news division announced that the Sunday show hosted by Margaret Brennan will exclusively air interviews either live or as-lived (meaning no edits). However, exceptions may be made if sensitive national security information is unintentionally disclosed or if language is used that breaches Federal Communications Commission’s broadcast guidelines.

Based on feedback from our viewers over the past week, we’ve made a change to ensure more openness in our interviews. This update includes airing the complete, uncensored interviews on CBS, as well as continuing to share full transcripts and the raw footage online.

The representative declined to comment on the reason for the policy beyond the statement.

However, the sequencing indicates that CBS News responded after Governor Noem raised concerns following her Sunday discussion about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly expelled to his birthplace El Salvador. He has since been brought back to the U.S., but still faces potential deportation proceedings.

In a post on X, Noem stated that CBS manipulated their interview to create a false image of an MS-13 gang member’s true danger to public security in the United States.

In simpler terms, remarks made during a “Face the Nation” interview by Noem, suggested that Abrego Garcia could have been slanderous. She alleged that he belonged to the gang MS-13 and sought explicit images from underage individuals.

In an uncensored interview, I remarked that this individual’s actions were truly appalling, even his fellow traffickers found him abhorrent due to his sickening behavior towards young children. It was a chilling revelation.

Authorities claim that Abrego Garcia is associated with MS-13, a gang he has since denied any affiliation with. However, a court found the proof linking him to the group as being inadequate.

Last year, “Face the Nation,” a long-standing news show dating back to 1954, was at the center of a legal dispute between CBS News and former U.S. President Trump. Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS News for an alleged $20 billion in damages, asserting that the program manipulated an interview from “60 Minutes” featuring his potential 2024 political rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, by selectively editing it deceptively.

Hollywood Inc.

On Tuesday, two seasoned reporters from CBS News will grill the vice presidential nominees in New York.

During “Face the Nation,” they played an interview segment that seemed different compared to the one shown on “60 Minutes.” This discrepancy made Donald Trump believe that the segment from “60 Minutes” had been manipulated, potentially to boost Kamala Harris and harm his own election prospects.

In television news, it’s typical to edit interviews for clarity and to accommodate time constraints. Although CBS News didn’t do anything incorrect according to 1st Amendment experts, their parent company Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement to facilitate the approval process for its merger with Skydance Media. This merger was finalized on August 7.

The shift in policy on live interviews might be perceived as another concession to the Trump administration, known for employing legal means to retaliate or try to muzzle its media critics. This adjustment could also create difficulties for the “Face the Nation” team, who work under conditions where real-time fact-checking struggles to counteract misinformation spread by guests on their show.

According to reports, it’s likely that more changes are on the horizon since Skydance is deep in negotiations to take over The Free Press, a conservative news outlet established by ex-New York Times columnist Bari Weiss.

According to sources privy to the talks, the agreement appears to be close to finalization, and it’s expected that Weiss will play a significant part at CBS News, despite the fact that she lacks prior experience in managing a television news network.

Read More

2025-09-05 21:02